Hovannisian, a descendant of Armenian Genocide survivors, was born in Fresno, California to a family of professors. He moved to Armenia with his family in 1990 and was appointed as the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the newly independent Republic of Armenia by then-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan. In 2002, Hovannisian founded the Heritage party, which won 6% of the popular vote in the 2007 parliamentary election.[2]

In 2013, Hovannisian was one of the seven candidates at the presidential election and came in second with 37% vote. He claimed victory due to alleged electoral fraud. In days following the election, protests took place both in Yerevan (Freedom Square in particular) and other cities and towns throughout Armenia. Hovannisian urged Sargsyan to accept "people's victory" and concede his defeat.[3] Hovannisian called the movement 'Barevolution', a portmanteau of 'barev' (բարև, 'hello') and 'revolution', referring to his habit of walking up to people and greeting them during the election campaign.[4][5] The protests gradually faded by April of that year.

In October 1988, Hovannisian wrote an article for the Los Angeles Times supporting the Karabakh movement.[11] He was in Soviet Armenia in December 1988, when an earthquake shook northwestern parts of the country.[12] In February 1990, he settled in a one-bedroom apartment off Azizbekov Square (now Sakharov Square) in capital Yerevan.[13] Hovannisian was the Yerevan office director of the Armenian Assembly of America.[14] His family moved to Yerevan in fall 1990.[15]

Hovannisian gave up his United States citizenship on 23 April 2001 to be eligible to become an Armenian citizen.[16] On January 9, 2003, the Armenian court rejected Hovannisian's claims on certifying that he has been an Armenian citizen for the past 10 years, which is a requirement in running for president. Thus, he was effectively put out of his way in participating in 2003 presidential election.[17]

On 7 November 1991 Raffi Hovannisian was appointed as the first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia.[18] On March 2, 1992 as the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Hovannisian raised the Armenian tricolor at the United Nations headquarters in New York.[19] He served in that position until October 16, 1992, when he was forced to resign,[20] because he and President Levon Ter-Petrosyan took two very different approaches to Armenian national issues.[21]

In September 1992 the Los Angeles Times wrote "Hovannisian's citizenship makes little difference to his fans, however. A recent poll in the Armenian newspaper Epokha found that he enjoyed a mind-boggling 96% approval rating, more than President Ter-Petrosyan. Even among the long faces of a Yerevan bread line, people turned thumbs up when asked about him."[22]

However, Hovannisian was later dismissed in 1992 from his position as Foreign Minister due to his disagreements with Ter-Petrosyan on the issue of relations with Turkey. Specifically, he was critical of Ter-Petrosyan for his urgent desire for normalization of relations with Turkey without stressing the issue of the Armenian Genocide. The final straw occurred when Hovannisian chose to bring up the issue while in Istanbul in late 1992 on a state visit. [23][24]

Heritage party was the only opposition party to pass the 5% threshold during the 2007 parliamentary election. According to official results, Hovannisian's party earned over 81,000 votes or 6% of the total vote guaranteeing 7 seats at the Armenian National Assembly. However, according to Azg Daily's online poll, Heritage had the highest rating in the public with around 25% support.[25] Two months after the election, in July 2007 the approval rating of Raffi Hovannisian was 82% [26]

In 2011, Hovannisian encouraged a more assertive Armenian foreign policy, calling for the restitution of territories from both Azerbaijan and Turkey, and support for the rights of the Armenian minority in Georgia.[28]

After regional unrest spurred Armenian merchants to demonstrate in Yerevan against a ban on street trading, Heritage and other political parties began to organize more ambitious rallies aimed at forcing broad governmental changes.[29] On 15 March 2011, hoping to draw attention to his party's cause, Hovannisian began a public hunger strike in a small protest camp in Yerevan's Freedom Square. The unity of the opposition was strained when Levon Ter-Petrosyan, leader of the Armenian National Congress, led demonstrators into Freedom Square two nights later and allegedly ignored Hovannisian and his supporters. Hovannisian ended his hunger strike on 30 March, but has remained active in protests against President Serzh Sargsyan and his government.[30][31][32]

Hovannisian announced about his decision to run for president in early November 2012.[33] By late December 2012, it was clear that Armenia's first president and main opposition figure Levon Ter-Petrosyan refused to run for president. Hovannisian was perceived to be the main challenger of incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan, however, many doubted Hovannisian's ability to bring about government change in Armenia.

The election campaign started on 21 January 2013 and ended on 16 February. 17 February was an election silence day. Hovannisian ran on a nationalist platform, with strong views on the Armenian Genocide recognition and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.[34][35]